No, they do not simulate earthquakes at all,
not the kind that rocked Japan to its core,
split wide the ocean floor and shot, fast
as a jet, its deep waters to the closest
and farthest shores, drowning mothers and fathers,
children, cousins, and friends. Noisy yes,
the explosions rose from beneath the layers
of ice and snow, as liquid seeped below,
then froze, expanded, stressing rocks
till something had to pop. Sure, residents
were scared. But not to death.
Just one moment of fright,
harmless as a horror movie, Godzilla
unreal, even melodramatic, his long tail
swinging into buildings, his roar
reminiscent of a good hard laugh.
So what if some siding wriggled
loose or a shingle fell from the roof,
if some man ran buck naked out his front
door to see what the hell had shaken his house?
He returned to his tub, warmed himself
in the shower, and when he finished,
he did what all of us want to do
and turned the water off.